Power Outage

When the calendar shows that August is closing out in one week and your team leader in home runs has 12, it’s fair to say that small-ball is your style. In San Francisco, Aaron Rowand is the only player on the roster with a double-digit total in long balls, which is not easy to do at this juncture of the season. Even players that hit one out rarely approach the 10 to 15 total. With only 71 total at the time of this writing, the Giants are on an anemic pace for production.

In 2007, Barry Bonds hit 28 home runs, leading the way by a wide margin. The next up on that team were third baseman Pedro Feliz (20) and catcher Bengie Molina (19). Rowand, who played for the Phillies a year ago, hit 27. As a team, the Giants hit 128 during Bonds’ farewell season in town.

The Phillies lead the Senior Circuit with 173 home runs, with only two other clubs hitting in less than triple digits (Los Angeles- 99, Washington- 90). If the Giants finish at the bottom – which looks to be a good bet right now – it will be the first time since 1900 that they did so.

As far as wins and losses go, the Giants finished in last place in the NL West in 2007 with a 71-91 record. This summer, they are 57-72 and actually ahead of the hapless Padres by nine games.

Maybe hitting less home runs as a team did not make much of a difference as far as wins, losses and place in the standings go. But today’s game is a power one, and not replacing a threat like Bonds was a mistake.